Mobile railroad-track.



No. 725,351. R .PATENTED APR. 14, 1903.

- P. MONTSABRE.

MOBILE RAILROAD TRACK.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR. 13, 1902.

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APPLICATION FILED MAR. 13, 1902. R

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.P. MONTSABRE. I MOBILE RAILROAD TRACK.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 13, 1902.

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Witnesses: fizJ/eiztorx NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIPPE MONTSABRE, OF FRESNO, CALIFO NIA.

MOBILE RAILROAD-TRACK.

SPEGIFIOATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 72 5,351, dated April 14, 1903.

Application filed March 13, 19(12. SerialNo. 98,109. (No modelJv To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PHILIPPE MONTSABRE, a citizen of France, residing at Fresno, in the county of Fresno and State of California,

have invented new and useful Improvements in the Construction of a Mobile Railroad, by which motors, cars, or wagons run upon a double endless self-laying track made up of tripods and binary mobile rails, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to construct an endless track of a series of sections called,

tripods supporting the traction-rails for the vehicles.

zontal plane.

' ble rail P P P P, bifurcated at both ends with four wheels.

with connecting double rail 0 O O O, journaled between the ends of the bifurcated rails P P, and two cross-bars R R R R act upon the shafts X X and X X of two successive tripods to regulate the horizontal flexion of every segment of the rail-track. The wheels running on this double railtrack have a flange in the middle of their peripheries, and the axles of the wheels are kept perpendicular on the endless rail-track by using trucks Briefly told, this is the main feature of my invention, as will be more fully explained by reference to the acco n the intimate connection and construction of l a tripod-foot Z. Fig. 6 shows a plan section through a double bifurcated rail P P PP. Fig. 7 is a vertical section through the cross bars R R R R and the horizontal shaft X X. Figs. 8 and 9 are top views of several segments of tripods with binary mobile rails when they are turning or when they are disposed to go on a straight line. Fig. 10 is a vertical section through a vehicle,both Wheels resting upon two endless tracks of tripods and binary mobile rails. Figs. 11 is a vertical section through a turning rail 0 O O 0. Fig. 12 is a plan through a turning rail 0 O O 0. Fig. 13 is a vertical and lateral view of an eight-wheeled wagon moving upon two These tripods are pivoted to gether so as to flex in both a vertical and hori- Evcry tripod supportsa dou-. I

F F F.' 'under the frames A B O or D E F F F" F endless tracks of tripods with binary mobile rails. Figs. 14 and 15 are a plan or top view and a perspective of a tripod which isused as an element in the constructionof mobile rails. Figs. 16 and 17 are respectively a plan and perspective of a modified form of tripod.

Figs. 1, 14, 16 are plan or top views of a tripod which I employ as an element in the construction of a segment of mobile rail. I Figs.

2, 15, 17 are respectively perspective views of the same, and Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the same tripods A B O and D E F The tripods which I employ are made up of a frame A B 0, formed by three side bars A BA; 0 B O or with the three side bars D E F Three small feet Z Z Z are placed '15, or on the upper sideof the bars A B and 2 3 of Figs. 16 and 17, and these journal-boxes e e and e e are always erected several inches distance from the junction of the tripod-foot Z with the frame, (see Fig. 3,) and it is only by placing the journal-boxes e e and the tripod-feet Z Z Z at a good distance each from other that the stability of a tripod upon the a ground is obtainable. J ournal-bearings 8:6,

erected above the bars forming the frame of a tripod, are made up by erecting ears,

which are of the same piece of metal as the frame A B G or the frame .D E F F F ,F. Each earhas a hole bored near its top, through which passes the horizontal shaftXX of the mobile rails. 1

In this invention the three feet Z Z Z, which are placed under the frame A B O orthe frame D E F F F F' of every tripod, have for main object to prevent the oscillation of the segment of mobile rails under the pressure of the wheels traveling upon them, and

they have also for object to allow the endless track to pass over the rough and uneven parts of a road. With these two ends in view the traveling feet Z Z Z are only moderately high,

according to the nature of the ground upon which they areto travel. Their form is semispherical, the top of the sphere resting upon the ground, Figs. 3, 4, 5, 14, 15, 16, and 17. A spherical form being voluminous, every traveling foot Z of a tripod is made hollow to diminish its weight. The foot Z is constructed as follows: a framework formed of four sections U V U V S V S V, crossing each other at right angles, as seen by Fig. 5. Two of these sections U V and S V are but a prolongation from the tripod-frame A B O, and it is evident that by such construction every foot is strongly and indissolubly united under the tripod. The sections U V and S V are then united upon the sections U V and S V, and these four sections forming the framework of every traveling foot Z are in such a shape on the outside that a spherical metallic envelop can cover them, Figs. 4 and 5.

In this invention two cross-bars R R and R R, Fig. 7, are also employed as an element in the construction of a segment of mobile rails for regulating the turning motion of an endless rail-track to the right or to the left. These cross-bars R R and R B. have also for object to force the horizontal shaft X X to turn into the journal-bearings e e ofa tripod when the endless rail is turning around the drum-wheels G G, and it is with these ends in view that these cross-bars are made up of flat rods bifurcated at both ends, Fig. 7. Each extremity of a cross-bar can pivot on a vertical axle I I, perpendicular on the horizontal shaft X X of the mobilerails, and it is by pivoting on that vertical axle I I that these crossbars regulate the turning motion to the right and to the left of every segment of mobile rail. Each extremity of a cross-bar R R or R R and the horizontal shaft X X have square surfaces at their meeting junction, and the shaft X X is firmly held between the jaws or branches of the cross-bars R R R R by such construction. The horizontal shaft X X is then forced to turn into the journal-bearings e e of a tripod.

A horizontal shaft X X is alsoemployed as an element in the construction of every segment of mobile rail. The shaft X X is constructed rectangular in cross-section, except at the journal-boxes, where it is round, and to diminish weight the shaft is made hollow. Each horizontal shaft X X is devised to turn into a pair of journal-bearings e e, erected above a tripod, and the same shaft X X turns also at its junction in the two branches of a bifurcated rail P P P P; but at any other place the sectional form of the horizontal shaft X X is rectangular, Fig. 7. By such construction the extremities of the turning rail 0 O O O and the extremities of the crossbars R R R R are lying square upon the top of the rectangular parts of that shaft X X.

Each horizontal shaft X X is constructed with four axles and is rectangular-shaped at any other place, and so as to diminish its weight its inside is hollow.

In this invention the endless rail-track is formed by turning rails O O, O O and bifurcated rails P P P P, alternating one after the other, Figs. 6 and 11. The bifurcated rail P P P P' is bifurcated and semicircular at both ends. This semicircular bifurcation of the rail P P P P has for object to hold between its branches'the extremities of a turning rail 0 O O 0, Figs. 11 and 12, which is supported by the same horizontal shaft X X, Figs. 8 and 9. has rounded extremities and pivots on vertical axles I I, secured upon the middle of the shaft XX and on the shaft X X of the next successive tripod. Each turning rail 0 O O O has on its side a longitudinal opening, Fig. 11, allowing the cross-bars to cross under them. Every link of a turning rail 0 O O O and every link of a bifurcated rail P P P P are made up by two straight steel bars parallel to each other and indissolubly united at their ends only, as shown by Figs. 6, 11, and 12, so that both rails O O and O O and the rail P P and P P can be considered as made of the same piece of metal. This method of constructing every link of rail gives me some right to call them in a general way binary rails, (binary definition: a thing made of two parts,) and by such a name it will be easy to distinguish them from the alreadynumerous patterns of mobile rails presented by previous inventors.

Some inventors have formed every link of their rails with two parallel steel bars which are used by them as flanges, containing, inside of them a rail-plate; but in myinventiou these two parallel steel bars are used as rails, the wheels running on top of their surfaces. Some other inventor shows also two distinct tracks of rails, wheels running upon each of these rail-tracks; but in my invention the system is made of one double-rail track; so what I consider as myimprovement in every link of mobile rail which I make use of is the indissoluble union of two parallel rail-bars at their extremities only, the small separation existing between the two rail-bars, a link of rail being bifurcated at both extremities when a turning rail has rounded extremities and can pivot on a vertical axle I I.

As a consequence of the above-described construction of every link of mobile rail it follows that all wheels running on them have a flange Y around the middle of their circumference, as seen by Figs. 10 and 13. The axle of the Wagons running upon an endless track of tripods and binary mobile rails are kept always perpendicular on this rail-track by placingthewagonsupontruckshavingfourwheels. These trucks are built like those of railways, except that every wheel is provided with hubs, so that it can turn around its axle, Figs. 10 to 13. The wheels have hubs for the purpose not only to turn more easily along curves, but also for the purpose to slide slightly along their axles when turning. The wheels of the cars of the railroads slide laterally and longitudinally when turning; but in this system of mobile rails with wheels having hubs only The turning rail 0 O O O ing-rail O O O O, which can alsopivot on a" mobile rails: describing onlysegmental cu rves such displacement is very slight, It may be one-fourth of an inch and can be very easily made, as the lateral force necessary to effectuate such displacement is acting on the spokes of the wheel, as a lever, to eifectuate such displacement alongthe axle.

Having thus far described min utel y the con struction of all the elements employed by me in forming an endless track of tripods with binary mobile rails, I will now proceed to explain how the above elements are assembled to form the endless-rail track.

Fig. 9 and Fig. 8 are a planer top view of several segments of an endless track of tripods with binary mobile rails. The letters A B 0 show the tripods fully described already. A succession of tripods A B O or D E F F F F are placed at some distance behind one another, each having the same general direction. Horizontal shafts X X pass through each pair of journal-bearings e e, erected upon every tripod A B C. As before stated, two kinds of rails are employed in thisinvention. A bifurcated railPPP P, bifurcated and semicircular at both ends, is supported at its extremities by the two shafts X X and X X, which are journaled in the bearings e e, erected upon the sametripod. This bifurcated rail isimmovable, and the mobile shafts X X, which support them, turn intheir extremities, and every tripod AB 0 supports a bifurcated rail P P PP, of a turning rail 0 O O O is then intercalated between the branches of two successive bifurcated rails P P P P and P P P P. From this disposition it follows that the shafts X X and X X of two consecutive tripods A B0 and A B C support the extremities ofevery turnvertical axle I. Two cross-bars R R and R R are fixed by their extremities upon the same two shafts X X and X X, upon which are the right and to the left along a series of concentric curves, and Fig. 8 is drawn especially to show how such difficulty is overcome in this invention. A deviation of four or five degrees only of a turning rail 0 O O 0 under the con trol of the cross-bars is sufficient to place the successive segments of mobile rails almost alonga regular curve, and several segments,

each deviating fivedegrees only,arenevertheless sufficient for a wagon to turn upon these mobile rails into a circle of sixteen meters of diameter, which shows their ability to turn into the different streets of a townand to go over all cross-roads'which may be met in the way. The segments forming this endless track The extremities of mobile rails turn up and down when the horizontal shaft X'X'tu'rns into .its jou'rnal-' bearings e e ofa tripod,and every segmentc'an turn right or left when the turning-railsO 0 '0 O are pivoting on their vertical axleI under regulation of thecrossrbars R R R Figp13 is an elevation and side view of-an endless trackof tripods with binary mobi le' rails adapted upon an eight -wheel 'wagonif, The endless track turns around two polygonal drum-wheels G G, placed at the head and rear 1 of the wagon, and an octagonal drum-wheet,

is certainly in my judgment the best drumwheel which can be employed for that purpose. Every wheel of this wagon has a flange Y, whichv is in the middle of its periphery, which flange Y is all inserted between the double rail 0 0 0'0 and PP P P, forming the rail-track. By such disposition the wheels can never leave this mobile rail-track, and thesafety of the wagons running upon them is made secure, Figs. 10 and 1 3.

Having thus described the nature of my invention .and the manner in which Icarry the same into efiect, I would haveit understood that I do not claim the employment, generally considered, ofan endlessrail-track carried by motors or'vehicles, which track lies thereon; but

, v )9 always on the ground for the wheels to run What I claim as my invention, anddesire j to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An endless track for traction engines or cars consisting of a series of tripods,horizontal shafts X X j ou rnaled thereon and supporting a series of jointeddouble rails-adapted to flex horizontally by means of connecting. crossbars R R R R substantially as, set forth;

2. A section of an endless track for traction engines or cars consisting of tripods made up of side bars forming its frame, and

supported by three feet Z Z Z placed at the corners ofan isosceles tria'ngleetwo pairs of journal-boxes e e on the upper side of the"- tripod-frame, which are always placed backward from the tripod-feet and shafts X X journaled therein substantially as described;

3. An endless track for traction engines I and cars consistingof sections made up of tripods with a triangular frame, whichare journaled together, and provided with feet Z on the angles thereof, said feet being ofv cir cular form, and their insidedivided in four parts, by four partitions, two of which are prolongations of the tripod-frame, the treadsurface of the feet Z being covered-by a IOO spherical metallic envelop, substantially'as I described.

4. An endless track forv traction engines and cars consisting of a series of tripods, horizontal shafts XX thereon and supporting a double rail P PP P with bifurcated ends,

connecting and turning double railsO 0 0'0 journaled between the ends of the bifurc'ated rails, substantially as set forth.

5. An endless track for traction engines and cars which consists of sections called tripods pivoted together so as to flex in a horizontal plane, by pivoting on a vertical axle fixed at each end of a turning rail 0 O O O which movement is regulated by two crossbars R R R R with extremities pivoting also on a vertical axle I I substantially as set forth.

6. An endless track for traction engines and cars, which consists of sections called tripods, horizontal shafts X X and X X oftwo successive tripods journaled thereon and su pporting two cross-bars R R R R made up by bars bifurcated at both ends, clasping between their branches the horizontal shafts X X and X X to which they are secured by vertical axles I I passing through their extremities, substantially as set forth.

PHILIPPE MoN'rsABRE.

Witnesses:

GRACE DALZELL, EDNA NUTTING. 

